Gomtinagar Extension murder case: Law student arrested

TNN | Updated: Feb 23, 2020, 07:48 IST

Thursday’s murder had led to panic in the apartment building in Gomtinagar

LUCKNOW: A law student of a private university was arrested on Saturday in connection with the murder of a 20-year-old engineering dropout who was stabbed by a group of youths in Gomtinagar Extension on Thursday. Abhishek Pandey (20), the son of an astrologer, was arrested from his residence in Vikasnagar. He studies in the same university where the victim and his friends studied. On Thursday afternoon, Prashant Singh was stabbed at least 10 times at Gate number 1 of Alaknanda Apartments in front of security guards and he bled to death. An FIR was lodged against one Arpan Shukla and his unidentified aides. Police investigation later revealed that Prashant's and Arpan's groups had clashed in a Barabanki restaurant on Wednesday night. The brawl became the reason for murder. Based on CCTV camera footage from the restaurant and the apartment building, police have been able to identify some of the accused involved in the attack. These include Aman Bahadur, Abhishek Pandey, Vimal Singh, Abdul Ghani Khan and Anjani Yadav. While Aman, the son of a former BSP MLA, was arrested on Friday, Pandey was picked up on Saturday. Police have also detained six others for questioning. Apart from these, police said, a dozen other youths waiting outside Alaknanda Apartments on their bikes while Prashant was being stabbed have also been identified. Assistant commissioner of police, Gomtinagar, Santosh Kumar Singh said that in CCTV camera footage, Pandey was seen breaking the windows of the SUV in which Prashant was seated, just before the attack. Pandey, he said, was also present along with prime accused Arpan in the restaurant clash. On Thursday, Pandey and Arpan had followed Prashant since morning to take revenge of the clash in the restaurant. "Pandey was wearing a white shirt at the time of the attack and was found in the same attire when cops raided his house. He tried to escape but was caught," said Singh. A two-member police team has been formed to nab others involved in the incident. "We are investigating who informed the accused about Prashant's movements on the fateful day," he said.